Dr. Williams said:
>Bill and Chris and the rest of the FML:
>
>        While I have no problems with gating to rec.pets, you will attract a
>lot of attention.  Will all of the people on this list be able to realize
>when they are being bated by someone who really doesn't care anything about
>ferrets....
>
>        I think I could, but I'm not sure everyone (all 600+) could, and we may
>waste a lot of bandwidth condemning people for posting recipes for fried
>ferrets, etc.  This form of organized aggression is not uncommon on the
>newgroups, and we've seen it here on the FML once of twice.  (Bill - I think
>this would require a lot of vigilance on your part to remove out any
>objectionable posts....)
 
We agree, which is why I want to emphasize that the suggestion is one
direction _only_.  From the FML _TO_ rec.pets.  This means that the FML
will not be subjected to such stuff.
 
>But my question is:  Is there any reason that people on the Internet in
>all of it's forms and fashions (including Compuserve, AOL, etc.)  can't
>subscribe to the FML?  I know Dr.  Weiss is coming in from AOL.
 
Normally no, the FML has a "longer reach" than a newsgroup.  But, reading
via news has its advantages.  Including not filling your mailbox if you
go on vacation for a couple of weeks.  And many of the news interfaces
are far better suited for this than mail is.
 
Chris Bern said:
>Hi again!
 
>Chris brought up the idea of gating the FML to rec.pets, and Bill said
>that he'd do it if people on that newsgroup wanted it.  I just posted a
>message on that newsgroup explaining the situation and asking for
>opinions.  I'll keep everyone posted on the responses.  And those of you
>who can get the newsgroup might want to check out the responses yourself.
 
I just added in a reminder to rec.pets that this would be a unidirectional
gateway.
--
Every once in a while I write something that someone might use
in a signature.  So I go back and make it real spiffy.  No luck.
Then some guy goes and uses *that* dog.  Argh!
[Posted in FML issue 1074]